JP2023096159A - Sheet folding device and sheet folding system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sheet processing device in a compact configuration, capable of loading sheets so that an end of the sheet ejected onto a sheet loading tray is not interfered.SOLUTION: A sheet processing device comprises a sheet loading tray 38a for loading sheets, carrier means for carrying the sheets to the sheet loading tray from a prescribed carrier path, a lower end restriction member 47 abutting onto a tip of the sheet carried to the sheet loading tray 38a, lower end restriction member movement means for moving the lower end restriction member 47 along the prescribed carrier path, means for folding the sheets, and control means, and when a first sheet is carried from the prescribed carrier path by the carrier means, the lower end restriction member 47 is moved to a first position, when a second sheet having a longer length in a carrier direction than the first sheet is carried from the prescribed carrier path by the carrier means, the lower end restriction member 47 is moved to a second position downstream of the first position in the carrier direction and the folding means folds the second sheet after the first sheet and the second sheet were carried onto the sheet loading tray by the carrier means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that processes sheets of different sizes discharged from an image forming apparatus and stacked, for example.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been provided a sheet processing apparatus for producing a booklet by center-folding a sheet as post-processing of a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a combination of these machines. There is also known a post-processing apparatus capable of inserting a sheet smaller than the sheets saddle-stitched or saddle-folded into the booklet.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a pair of folding rollers rotating in opposite directions to each other and a folding plate moving straight forward fold a sheet of paper, which is nipped and creased. Disclosed is a post-processing device in which the unfolded insert sheet is sandwiched between the double-page spreads of the folded booklet-like sheets, and then subjected to the finishing folding process. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200000 describes post-processing in which printed sheets and insert sheets are ejected upward from a sheet ejection section onto an upwardly inclined sheet tray, then lowered and accumulated, and saddle-stitching and center-folding are performed. Apparatus is disclosed. In the post-processing device disclosed in Patent Document 2, considering that the booklet is finished with the insert sheet inserted, when the insert sheet is to be discharged to the paper tray together with the printed sheet that is the base of the booklet, the insert sheet To solve the problem that when the lower edge of the next ejected printed paper is higher than the upper edge of the inserted paper ejected most recently, the lower edge of the printed paper interferes with the upper edge of the inserted paper and causes a paper jam. Therefore, when the printed paper is ejected after the inserted paper is ejected, the paper stacked in the paper tray is moved so that the bottom edge of the printed paper falls onto the paper surface of the inserted paper stacked on the top layer of the paper tray. I am letting

JP 2012-152952 A JP 2011-111254 A

In a post-processing device such as that described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200001, the sheet is creased once, then opened, and after inserting an insert sheet conveyed by a different path, the sheet is finished center-folded. A mechanism for unfolding the folded paper, a finishing folding mechanism, a path for conveying the creased paper, and a path for conveying the unfolded inserted paper are required, and there is a problem that the size of the apparatus is increased. Further, in the post-processing device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200010, the printed paper and the inserted paper share a common transportation path, and there is no need for a mechanism for unfolding the creased paper. Since it is configured to lower the paper tray after ejecting it to the paper tray, it is possible to secure a space above the paper ejection section that is at least the length of the maximum size paper, and to move the paper on the paper tray. Since it is necessary to secure a space for the upper end of the paper to escape, the problem of increasing the size of the apparatus may still occur, especially when the sizes of the printing paper and the insert paper are greatly different.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus which has a compact structure and can stack sheets without the edges of the sheets discharged onto the sheet stacking tray interfering with each other.

In view of the above object, the present invention provides a sheet stacking tray for stacking sheets, a conveying means for conveying sheets from a predetermined conveying path to the sheet stacking tray, and a front edge of the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray. a lower end regulating member, lower end regulating member moving means for moving the lower end regulating member along the predetermined conveying path, folding means for folding a sheet, the conveying means, the lower end regulating member, the lower end regulating member moving means, and a control means for controlling the folding means, wherein the control means moves the bottom end regulating member to a first position when the first sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path by the conveying means. and when a second sheet having a length in the conveying direction longer than that of the first sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path by the conveying means, the lower end regulating member is moved downstream of the first position in the conveying direction. The sheet is moved to a second position, and the folding means folds the second sheet after the conveying means finishes conveying the first sheet and the second sheet to the sheet stacking tray. A processing device is provided.

In this sheet processing apparatus, the sheet discharged from the discharge port descends along the mounting surface and comes into contact with the lower end regulating member. , can be processed by the processing unit.

The sheet processing apparatus further includes an upper end pressing member for pressing an upper end of the conveyed sheet when the sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path to the sheet stacking tray by the conveying unit; When the first sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path, the upper edge pressing member is moved to the first position, and when the second sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path by the conveying means, the upper end pressing member moving means for moving the upper end pressing member to a second pressing position upstream in the conveying direction from the first pressing position.

With the lower end of the first size sheet placed on the placement surface in contact with the lower end regulating member, the upper end pressing member moves to the pressing position, and the first size sheet placed on the placement surface is pressed. By bringing the first size sheet into contact with the upper end of the sheet of size, the sheet of the first size is pressed against the lower end regulating member. (vertical direction) can be aligned more reliably.

In one embodiment, the processing section includes a pair of folding rollers arranged on a side facing the placement surface and facing each other, and a pair of folding rollers arranged to face the pair of folding rollers with the sheet stacking tray interposed therebetween. an operating position in which the projecting plate pushes at least a second size sheet on the loading surface between the pair of folding rollers, and a first size sheet and a second size sheet. can be moved between a standby position away from the With such a configuration, the processing section can center-fold the stacked sheets. In this case, it is preferable that the lower surface of the projecting plate serves as a guide surface that tapers toward the pair of folding rollers, and the lower end regulating member can move up and down along the mounting surface, After moving the projecting plate to the operating position, the control unit lifts the lower end regulating member so that the upper end of the sheet of the first size is brought into contact with the guide surface. More preferred. After pushing the sheet of the second size between the pair of folding rollers by the projecting plate in this manner, the lower end regulating member is lifted to press the sheet of the first size against the guide surface. The upper edge of the sheet is guided between a pair of folding rollers.

The first upper end pressing member may include a cover portion extending to cover the upper end of the first size sheet when moved to the pressing position.

Further, the sheet processing apparatus includes a second sheet processing apparatus that ascends and descends along the sheet placement surface between a pressing position in contact with the upper end of the second size sheet and a retracted position away from the upper end of the second size sheet. It is preferable to further include an upper end pressing member. In this case, it is more preferable that the second upper end pressing member has an inclined surface on the discharge port side that extends away from the mounting surface as it goes downward.

Further, as a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet and discharging the sheet on which the image is formed, and stacking and processing the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus. and a sheet processing apparatus.

According to the present invention, even if the discharge port is provided above the upper end of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking tray, the first upper end regulating member having the inclined surface prevents the discharged sheets from It can be made to climb over the top edge of a size 1 sheet. Therefore, it is not necessary to move the position of the sheet on the sheet stacking tray so that the upper end of the sheet is positioned above the position of the discharge port according to the size of the sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray. , the lower end of the discharged sheet (the end on the leading side in the discharge direction) can be prevented from interfering with the upper end of the first size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray. In addition, since the sheets are discharged downward from the discharge port toward the sheet stacking tray, an additional space is secured above the discharge port to allow the movement of the maximum size sheet above the discharge port. No need. Therefore, while preventing interference between the lower end of the sheet discharged from the discharge port and the upper end of the sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray, it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the apparatus and to make the sheet processing apparatus compact. can.

1 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of an image forming system according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of a sheet processing apparatus in the image forming system shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged part of the sheet processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2; 3 is an explanatory diagram showing in detail a sheet folding device incorporated in the sheet processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2; FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main portion of the center folding unit of the sheet folding device of FIG. 4, showing a state in which the projecting plate is arranged at the standby position; FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main portion of the center folding unit of the sheet folding device of FIG. 4, showing a state in which the projecting plate is moved to an operating position to push the sheet between the pair of folding rollers; 5 is an enlarged view showing a first upper end pressing member of the sheet folding device of FIG. 4; FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a second upper end pressing member of the sheet folding device of FIG. 4; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a control device of the image forming system shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5A to 5E are schematic explanatory diagrams showing the process of processing in the sheet folding device of FIG. 4, in which (a) to (e) are processes of aligning and stacking small-size sheets carried into the sheet stacking tray at predetermined positions and postures; is shown. 5A to 5F are schematic explanatory diagrams showing the process of processing in the sheet folding device of FIG. It shows the process of matching and loading. 5A and 5B are schematic explanatory diagrams showing the process of processing in the sheet folding device of FIG. 4, where (j) to (m) show the process of center-folding the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking tray; 5 is a flow chart showing a procedure of stacking small size sheets in the sheet folding device of FIG. 4; 5 is a flow chart showing a procedure of stacking processing of large size sheets in the sheet folding device of FIG. 4; 5 is a flow chart showing a procedure of center folding processing in the sheet folding apparatus of FIG. 4;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the attached drawings, the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows an image forming system equipped with a sheet stack processing apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming system shown in FIG. 1 includes an image forming apparatus A and a sheet processing apparatus B. The sheet processing apparatus B incorporates a sheet folding apparatus C as a unit. Sheets on which images have been formed by A are collated and stacked by a sheet processing apparatus B, and post-processing such as stapling and center folding are performed on the stacked sheet bundle, and the sheets are loaded onto the first stack tray 21 or the second stack tray 21 on the downstream side. stack tray 22. The image forming apparatus A and the sheet processing apparatus B will be described in detail below.

[Image forming apparatus]
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus A includes a paper feeding unit 2 and an image forming unit 3 in a housing 1. Sheets are sent from the paper feeding unit 2 to the image forming unit 3, After an image is formed on the sheet by the image forming unit 3, the sheet is carried out from the main body sheet ejection port 4. - 特許庁

In the illustrated embodiment, the paper feeding unit 2 includes a plurality of cassettes 2a and 2b, each of which can accommodate sheets of different standard sizes that have been selected in advance. Also, a manual feed tray 2x is provided so that the user can insert sheets according to the purpose of use. A sheet having a size, paper quality (coated paper, plain paper, etc.), and thickness specified using a control panel 15 (to be described later) is fed to the image forming unit 3 from the sheet feeding unit 2 having such a configuration.

The image forming section 3 may be configured to form an image on the sheet sent from the paper feeding section 2, and various image forming mechanisms can be employed. In the illustrated embodiment, the image forming station 3 is shown as an electrostatic image forming mechanism. However, the image forming unit 3 is not limited to the illustrated electrostatic image forming mechanism, and may employ an ink jet image forming mechanism, an offset image forming mechanism, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming section 3 is provided with a light emitter (laser head, etc.) 5, a photosensitive drum 6, a developing device 7, a transfer charger 8, and a fixing device 9. A latent image (still image) is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 by the light emitting device 5 and toner ink is deposited by the developing device 7 . An ink image (toner ink) adhered to the photosensitive drum 6 is image-transferred onto a sheet sent from the paper feeding unit 2 by a transfer charger 8, and the image-transferred sheet is fixed by a fixing device 9, and then is fixed. , is sent to the discharge path 10 .

The image forming section 3 is further provided with a circulation path 11 and a main body switchback path 12 . The circulation path 11 and the main body switchback path 12 are paths for performing double-sided printing, and the sheet discharged from the fixing device 9 and having the image fixed on the front side thereof is reversed through the main body switchback path 12. After that, the sheet is conveyed to the image forming section 3 again through the circulation path 11 and printed on the back side of the sheet, thereby performing double-sided printing. The sheet printed on both sides in this manner is discharged from the main body discharge port 4 after being turned upside down again in the main body switchback path 12 .

An image reading unit 13 for reading a document image is provided above the image forming apparatus A configured as described above, and a document feeding unit 14 is mounted above the image reading unit 13 . The image reading unit 13 includes a platen 13a made of transparent glass, a reading carriage 13b, and photoelectric conversion elements 13c. , is converted into an electrical signal by the photoelectric conversion element 13c. Further, the document feeding unit 14 includes a paper feed tray 14a, and separates the document sheets placed on the paper feed tray 14a one by one and automatically feeds them to the platen 13a of the image reading unit 13. is configured to

The image forming apparatus A is further provided with a control panel 15, an image data storage unit 16, and a buffer memory 17. Using the control panel 15, for example, sheet size, color printing/monochrome printing, number of prints, Image forming conditions such as single-sided printing/double-sided printing, enlarged/reduced printing, etc. can be set in the body control unit 61, which will be described later. The image data storage unit 16 stores electric signals read by the image reading unit 13 and converted by the photoelectric conversion elements 13c as image data. The image data storage unit 16 can also store image data transferred through a network, for example. The image data stored in the image data storage unit 16 is transferred to the buffer memory 17 and sequentially transferred from the buffer memory 17 to the light emitter 5 .

From the control panel 15, in addition to the image forming conditions, sheet processing conditions can also be input and specified. As the sheet processing conditions, for example, "printout mode", "binding finish mode", "sheet bundle folding finish mode", etc. are set. These sheet processing conditions will be described later.

[Sheet processing device]
The sheet processing apparatus B connected to the image forming apparatus A includes an apparatus housing 20, a first paper discharge tray 21, and a second paper tray 21, as shown in FIG. 2 for the overall configuration and in FIGS. receiving a sheet on which an image has been formed and discharged from the body discharge port 4 of the image forming apparatus A, and (1) subjecting the sheet discharged from the body discharge port 4 to sheet processing. or (2) after the sheets discharged from the main body paper discharge port 4 are sorted into a bundle and subjected to binding processing, the 1 ("binding finishing mode"), or (3) after collating the sheets discharged from the main body paper discharge port 4 into a bundle, folding them into a booklet and sending them to the second discharge tray 21; It is configured to be stored in the paper tray 22 (“sheet bundle folding finishing mode”).

Inside the apparatus housing 20 of the sheet processing apparatus B, a sheet carry-in path P1 is provided between the carry-in port 23 and the sheet discharge port 24 and extends substantially linearly in a substantially horizontal direction. The carry-in port 23 of the sheet carry-in path P1 is, as shown in FIG. The sheet can be carried into the sheet processing apparatus B via the path P1. Further, inside the device housing 20, a first switchback transport path SP1 and a second switchback transport path SP2 are provided that branch off from the sheet carry-in path P1 and transport the sheet in the reverse direction. The switchback transport path SP1 is arranged on the downstream side (apparatus rear end side) of the sheet carry-in path P1, and the second switchback transport path SP2 is arranged on the upstream side of the first switchback transport path SP1. there is On the downstream side of the first switchback transport path SP2 extending from the sheet ejection port 24 of the sheet carry-in path P1, a processing tray 30 is arranged below the sheet ejection port 24 across a step. A discharge tray 21 is connected. Further, the folding device C is arranged downstream of the second switchback transport path SP2, and the second discharge tray 22 is connected to the downstream side thereof.

[Sheet loading path]
The sheet carry-in path P1 includes a carry-in roller 25 that conveys the sheet received from the carry-in opening 23 toward the paper discharge opening 24, and a carry-in roller 25 provided at the exit end of the carry-in path P1 that discharges the conveyed sheet from the paper discharge opening 24. A paper discharge roller 26 is provided, and these rollers are driven by a reversible drive motor (not shown). An entrance sensor S1 and an exit sensor S2 for detecting the leading edge and/or the trailing edge of the sheet are provided in the vicinity of the carry-in port 23 and the sheet ejection port 24 of the sheet carry-in path P1, respectively. The carry-in rollers 25 may be provided at a plurality of locations along the sheet carry-in path P1, as shown in FIG.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the sheet carry-in path P1 includes a path switching piece 27 for guiding the sheet to the second switchback transportation path SP2, and a sheet leading to the second switchback transportation path SP2. A temporary retention buffer guide 28 is also provided and is driven by actuation means (not shown) such as a solenoid. A post-processing unit 29 for performing post-processing such as stamping (sealing means) and punching (punching means) on the sheet is provided on the sheet carry-in path P1. In the illustrated embodiment, the post-processing unit 29 is arranged near the carry-in port 23 of the sheet carry-in path P1 so as to be detachable from the device housing 20 according to the device specifications.

[First switchback transport path]
The first switchback transport path SP1 provided on the downstream side of the sheet carry-in path P1 is configured as follows. At the exit end of the sheet carry-in path P1, a paper discharge roller 26 and a paper discharge port 24 are provided. is provided. The processing tray 30 is configured by a tray that stacks and supports a plurality of sheets ejected from the paper ejection port 24 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the processing tray 30 includes forward and reverse rollers 31 arranged above the processing tray 30 as a transport mechanism for transporting sheets on the processing tray 30, A driven roller 32 cooperating with the forward/reverse roller 31 and a rake rotator 33 are provided.

The forward/reverse roller 31 and the driven roller 32 are provided near the front end of the processing tray 30 in the carry-out direction (the end on the first stack tray 21 side). The forward/reverse roller 31 is arranged above the processing tray 30, and is positioned at an operating position (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3) in contact with the uppermost sheet on the processing tray 30 and a standby position (a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) separated from the . Further, the forward/reverse roller 31 and the driven roller 32 are arranged such that when the forward/reverse roller 31 is lowered to the operating position, the roller body of the forward/reverse roller 31 and the roller body of the driven roller 32 sandwich the sheet from above and below so that the sheet can be transported. are placed in

The forward/reverse roller 31 configured in this manner moves to a receiving position (for example, a standby position) away from the processing tray 30 when a sheet is to be introduced onto the processing tray 30 , and discharged from the sheet discharge port 24 . When the trailing edge of the sheet reaches the processing tray 30, it is lowered to the operating position and is controlled to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. be done.

The rake rotator 33, in the illustrated embodiment, consists of an endless belt stretched between two pulleys, one of which rotates together with the drive shaft 26x of the lower discharge roller 26. , and the other pulley is swingably supported so as to hang down on the processing tray 30 about the central axis of the pulley coaxial with the drive shaft 26x. The rake-in rotating body 33 engages with the upper surface of a new sheet conveyed on top of the uppermost sheet of the sheet bundle stacked on the treatment tray 30, and presses the leading edge of the sheet to It rotates counterclockwise and feeds the sheet until it comes into contact with a regulating member 34, which will be described later. As a result, it is possible to eliminate curling and skewing of the sheet that may occur while the sheet is conveyed on the processing tray 30 to the regulating member 34 . The rake rotator 33 is not limited to a belt, and may be configured by a paddle member, a roller, or the like.

A regulating member 34 for regulating the position of the edge of the sheet in the paper discharge direction and a binding device 35 are arranged at the rear end of the processing tray 30 in the paper discharge direction (right end in FIG. 3). Here, the sheet ejection direction in the processing tray 30 means the direction in which the sheet is ejected from the processing tray 30 toward the first sheet ejection tray 21 . In this embodiment, the binding device 35 is composed of an edge-stitching stapler, and staples at one or a plurality of positions at the trailing end (the right end in FIG. 3) of the sheet bundle stacked on the processing tray 30 in the sheet ejection direction. perform binding. However, the binding device 35 is not limited to a stapler that performs binding processing using staples or end surface binding. For example, the binding device 35 may be configured by a binding device that performs pressure binding. Further, in the present embodiment, the regulating member 34 includes a gripping claw 34a for gripping the sheet bundle and a regulating surface 34b for regulating the trailing edge of the sheet by contacting the grip claw 34a. It is configured to be able to reciprocate along the processing tray 30 in the paper discharge direction so as to fulfill the function of carrying out to the first paper discharge tray 21 arranged downstream of the tray 30 . The regulating member 34 is connected to a driving arm 36 so that the regulating member 34 can be reciprocated along the processing tray 30 in the sheet discharging direction by swinging the driving arm 36 by the sheet discharging motor M. It has become.

Further, the processing tray 30 is provided with a pair of side alignment plates 37 for aligning the sheets stacked on the processing tray 30 in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the discharge direction). They are arranged opposite to each other in the left-right direction (the front-rear direction in FIG. 3) so as to align the seats on the basis of the center, and are constructed so as to be able to approach and separate from the center of the seat.

In the first switchback conveying path SP1 configured in this way, the sheet discharged from the discharge port 24 moves on the processing tray 30 toward the first discharge tray 21, and moves backward in the direction in which the sheet advances. After the end is discharged from the discharge port 24 and reaches the processing tray 30, it is moved in the direction toward the first stack tray 21 (ie, the discharge direction) by the forward/reverse roller 31 rotating counterclockwise in FIG. and the opposite direction (hereinafter, also referred to as the "carrying-in direction"), and is switchback-conveyed toward the regulating member 34 . At this time, the raking rotor 33 cooperates with the forward/reverse roller 31 to feed the sheet along the processing tray 30 until it comes into contact with the regulating member 34 . Sheets fed onto the processing tray 30 are collated on the processing tray 30 from the paper exit 24 in the "binding finishing mode", and the collated sheet bundle is bound by the binding device 35 to the trailing edge. are stapled at one or more locations. In the "printout mode", the sheet sent along the processing tray 30 is sandwiched between the reversible roller 31 and the driven roller 32 without being conveyed in a switchback manner. It is carried out to the first paper discharge tray 21 .

[Second Switchback Conveyance Path and Sheet Folding Device]
The second switchback transport path SP2 branched from the sheet carry-in path P1 extends substantially vertically as shown in FIG. A sheet folding device C is provided for aligning and stacking the sheets sent from the second switchback conveying path SP2 and performing saddle stitching and saddle folding. The sheet folding device C, as shown in detail in FIG. A center-folding unit 40 for center-folding the sheet is provided. The stacking guide 38 includes a sheet stacking tray 38a having a mounting surface 38d that is an upward doglegged inclined surface, a switchback path 38b, and an exit guide portion 38c. A discharge roller 41 and a discharge port 42 are provided at the exit end of the second switchback conveying path SP2. are placed. Also, the switchback path 38b is connected to the upper end side of the sheet stacking tray 38a. The sheet stacking tray 38a is formed to have a length dimension that can accommodate sheets of the maximum size, and is configured so that the sheets discharged from the discharge port 40 can be sequentially stacked on the mounting surface 38d. .

Sheets discharged from the discharge port 40 are sequentially stacked on the stacking surface 38d of the sheet stacking tray 38a of the stacking guide 38 by the second switchback transport path SP2 and the stacking guide 38 configured as described above.

A binding position X and a folding position Y are set in the sheet stacking tray 38a. A folding unit 40 is arranged. Any saddle stitching unit 39 can be used as long as it can perform the stapling process. As the saddle stitching unit 39, for example, a stapling device that performs the stapling process using staples can be used. Since such a saddle stitching unit 39 is well known, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

The center-folding unit 40 includes a pair of folding rollers 43 including folding rollers 43a and 43b, a projecting plate 44 arranged to face the pair of folding rollers 43 with the sheet stacking tray 38a interposed therebetween, and a pair of folding rollers. and a pair of discharge rollers 45 arranged downstream of 43 . The pair of folding rollers 43 are arranged at positions where the surfaces of the folding rollers 43a and 43b do not come into contact with the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a. , one folding roller 43a is oscillatably supported by the device housing 20 and urged toward the other folding roller 43b to press the sheet when the sheet bundle is sandwiched between the pair of folding rollers 43a and 43b. It is possible to move closer to and away from each other according to the thickness of the sheet bundle. Also, the projecting plate 44 is carried by a projecting plate carrier 46 with its leading end facing the pressure contact portion of the pair of folding rollers 43, and is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the sheets on the stacking tray 38a. there is The projecting plate carrier 46 is driven toward and away from the sheet stacking tray 38a by a carrier driving mechanism (not shown). As a result, the projecting plate 44 can be moved to the waiting position shown in FIG. It is possible to move between a working position in which the sheet stacked on the mounting surface 38d is pushed between the pair of folding rollers 43 at the leading end thereof. In addition, the lower surface of the projecting plate 44, which protrudes from the mounting surface 38 when moved to the operating position, is tapered toward the tip (that is, toward the pair of folding rollers 43). A guide surface 44a slanted as shown in FIG. As a result, the upper end of the small size sheet is smoothly guided between the pair of folding rollers 43 when the upper end of the small size sheet abuts and is pressed against the guide surface 44 a of the projecting plate 64 .

At the folding position Y, an exit guide portion 38c is provided so as to be continuous with the stacking guide 38. The exit guide portion 38, as shown in FIGS. It is composed of opposing guide pieces that are constricted so as to gradually bend the stack of stacked sheets.

[Sheet loading tray]
The sheet stacking tray 38a includes a lower end regulating member 47, a first upper end pressing member 48 arranged above the lower end regulating member 47 along the sheet stacking tray 38a, and a first pressing member 48 along the sheet stacking tray 38a. A second upper end pressing member 49 disposed above the upper end pressing member 48 and side alignment members 50 disposed on both sides of the sheet stacking tray 38a in the width direction (the front-rear direction in FIG. 4) form the loading surface 38d. is provided protruding from the

As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the lower end regulating member 47 is constituted by a channel member having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and has a regulating surface 47a on the inner side thereof against which the lower end of the sheet abuts. ing. The lower end regulating member 47 is moved up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a (more specifically, its mounting surface 38d) by the lower end regulating member drive mechanism 51, and is moved to the standby position, the large size sheet receiving position, and the small size sheet receiving position. It can be moved. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower end regulating member drive mechanism 51 is composed of a pair of pulleys arranged near the upper and lower ends of the movement range of the lower end regulating member 47, and a transmission belt wound around both pulleys. The lower end regulating member 47 is fixed on a transmission belt, and is lifted and lowered by rotating a pulley on the driving side by a driving means so that sheets can be moved on the sheet stacking tray 38a. However, the lower end regulating member driving mechanism 51 is not limited as long as it can move the lower end regulating member 47 up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a, and other driving mechanisms can be used.

The lower end regulating member 47 configured in this manner stops the lower end of the sheet discharged from the discharge port 42 and descending along the sheet stacking tray 38 by contacting the regulating surface 47a, thereby regulating the position of the lower end of the sheet. In addition to regulating the sheet stacking tray 38a, it functions to move the sheets on the stacking surface 43d by moving up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a.

The first upper end pressing member 48, as shown in detail in FIG. 7, is composed of a substantially U-shaped channel member for contacting the upper end of the small size sheet formed inside. a contact surface 48a, a cover portion 48b extending so as to cover the upper end of the small-sized sheet when the upper end of the small-sized sheet is brought into contact with the contact surface 48a, An inclined surface 48c extending along the placing surface 38d so as to be inclined away from the placing surface 38d along the placing surface 38d, and a tip of the cover portion 48b so as to press the upper surface of the sheets stacked on the placing surface 38d. It has a sheet-shaped flexible sheet pressing member 48d attached thereto.

The first upper end pressing member 48 is moved up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a (specifically, its stacking surface 38d) by the first upper end pressing member drive mechanism 52, and is stacked on the stacking surface 38d. It can move between a retracted position away from the upper end of the sheet and a holding position abutting against the upper end of the sheet stacked on the placement surface 38d. In the illustrated embodiment, the first upper end pressing member drive mechanism 52 includes a pair of pulleys arranged near the upper and lower ends of the movement range of the first pressing member 48, and a transmission gear wound around both pulleys. The first pressing member 48 is fixed on the transmission belt, and is raised and lowered by rotating a pulley on the drive side by the drive means, thereby moving the upper end of the sheet stacked on the stacking surface 38d. can be brought into contact with and separated from. However, the first upper end pressing member driving mechanism 52 is not limited as long as it can move the first upper end pressing member 48 up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a, and other driving mechanisms can be used. be.

The first upper end pressing member 48 configured in this way contacts the upper end of the sheet of the first size (hereinafter referred to as small size) to restrict the lower end of the small size sheet to the lower end regulating member 47 . By pressing against the surface 47a, the position of the small size sheet along the loading surface 38d in the conveying direction (that is, the vertical direction) is aligned, and the lower edge of the following sheet is aligned with the sheet stacked on the loading surface 38d. Performs a function to avoid colliding with the top edge.

The second upper end pressing member 49, as shown in detail in FIG. and a cover portion 49b extending to cover the upper end of the large size sheet when the upper end of the large size sheet is brought into contact with the contact surface 49a. an inclined surface 49c formed on the side of the discharge port 42 and extending along the mounting surface 38d so as to be inclined away from the mounting surface 38d as it goes downward; and a sheet-shaped flexible sheet pressing member 49d attached to the tip of the cover portion 49b so as to press the .

The second upper end pressing member 48 is moved up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a (more specifically, its stacking surface 38d) by the second top end pressing member driving mechanism 53, and is stacked on the stacking surface 38d. It can move between a retracted position away from the upper end of the sheet and a holding position abutting against the upper end of the sheet stacked on the placement surface 38d. In the illustrated embodiment, the second upper end pressing member drive mechanism 53 includes a pair of pulleys arranged near the upper end and the lower end of the movement range of the second pressing member 49, and a transmission gear wound around both pulleys. The second pressing member 49 is fixed on the transmission belt, and the pulley on the driving side is rotated by the drive means to move the second upper end pressing member 49 up and down, thereby moving the mounting surface 38d. It can contact and separate from the upper end of the sheets stacked thereon. However, the second upper end pressing member driving mechanism 53 is not limited as long as it can move the second upper end pressing member 49 up and down along the sheet stacking tray 38a, and other driving mechanisms can be used. be.

The second upper end pressing member 49 configured in this manner abuts the upper end of a sheet of a second size larger than the first size (hereinafter referred to as a large size) to hold the lower end of the large size sheet. By pressing against the regulating surface 47a of the lower end regulating member 47, the position of the large size sheet along the mounting surface 38d in the conveying direction (that is, the vertical direction) is aligned, and the lower end of the succeeding sheet is aligned on the mounting surface 38d. It fulfills the function of avoiding collision with the top edge of the stacked sheets.

The side alignment members 50 are arranged to face each other in the width direction of the sheet stacking tray 38a, and are configured to be reciprocable in the width direction of the sheet stacking tray 38a by a drive mechanism (not shown). In this embodiment, the central position of the sheet stacking tray 38a in the sheet width direction (the central position of the pair of folding rollers and the projecting plate) is set as the central reference position for center folding. In the initial state, the side aligning members 50 are arranged at initial positions set at equal distances from the central reference position in the sheet width direction. The sheet is moved from the initial position by the same predetermined distance corresponding to the width dimension of the sheet carried into the sheet stacking tray 38a, and the sheet is aligned so that the center position in the width direction of the sheet coincides with the center reference position. After aligning the positions of the sheets in the width direction, the side aligning member 50 is returned to the initial position.

The side aligning members 50 configured in this way are brought into contact with both side portions in the width direction (perpendicular to the carry-in direction) of the sheet discharged from the discharge port 42 and carried into the sheet stacking tray 38a. It serves the function of aligning the position.

When a plurality of sheets are carried into the sheet stacking tray 38a, as described above, the position of the first sheet in the width direction is aligned, the side alignment member 50 is returned to the initial position, and then the next sheet is carried in. . The sheet width direction alignment operation by the side alignment member 50 is repeated for the next sheet, and the side edges of the first sheet and the next sheet are aligned and overlapped. By repeating the sheet width direction alignment operation each time a new sheet is loaded in this manner, a plurality of sheets can be stacked at predetermined positions in the width direction within the sheet stacking tray 38a. The dimensions of the sheets discharged to the sheet stacking tray 38a and subjected to post-processing are transmitted from the main body control unit 61 of the image forming apparatus A to the sheet processing apparatus B for post-processing control, which will be described later, together with information regarding the post-processing to be performed on the sheets. It is sent to the unit 62 in advance.

[Control device]
Next, the configuration of the control device 60 of the image forming system described above will be described with reference to FIG.
The control device 60 of the image forming system includes a control section (hereinafter referred to as a "main body control section") 61 for controlling the image forming apparatus A, and a control section (hereinafter referred to as a "post-processing control section") for controlling the sheet bundle processing apparatus B. ) 62.

The main control unit 61 includes an image formation control unit 63, a paper feed control unit 64, and a control panel 15 as an input unit. It can be performed. In the image forming mode, the number of printout copies, sheet size, sheet paper quality, color printing/monochrome printing, double-sided printing/single-sided printing, enlarged printing/reduced printing, and other image forming conditions can be set. The body control unit 61 controls the image formation control unit 63 and the paper feed control unit 64 according to the set image forming conditions, forms images on predetermined sheets, and then sequentially discharges the sheets from the main body discharge port 4 . Let In the post-processing mode, for example, sheet processing conditions such as "printout mode", "binding finish mode", and "sheet bundle folding finish mode" can be set. Also, when setting the "sheet bundle folding finish mode", it is possible to select whether or not there is an insert sheet. The body control unit 61 supplies the post-processing control unit 62 with post-processing mode information such as a finishing mode of post-processing and a binding mode (single-point binding or plural binding at two or more points), number of sheets, sheet size, and image formation. Along with transferring data such as sheet thickness information, a job end signal is transferred to the post-processing control unit 62 each time image formation is completed.

The post-processing control unit 62 is composed of a control CPU connected to a ROM 65 and a RAM 66, and performs control according to a designated post-processing mode based on a control program stored in the ROM 65 and control data stored in the RAM 66. to operate the sheet processing apparatus B. For this reason, the post-processing control unit 62 includes the carry-in roller 25, the paper discharge roller 26, A forward/reverse roller 31 for stacking sheets on the processing tray 30, a regulating member 34 of the processing tray 30, a binding device 35 of the processing tray 30, a saddle stitching unit 39 of the sheet folding device C, and a second switchback conveying path SP2. Discharge roller 41, projecting plate carrier 46 of center folding unit 40 of sheet folding device C, pair of folding rollers 43, pair of discharge rollers 45, drive mechanism for side alignment member 50, lower end regulating member drive mechanism 51, first upper end presser Drive circuits for motors such as the member drive mechanism 52 and the second pressing member drive mechanism 53 are connected. It is also configured to receive detection signals from an entrance sensor S1 and an exit sensor S2 arranged on the sheet carry-in path P1. In each post-processing mode, the post-processing control section 62 controls the sheet processing apparatus B so as to execute the following processing operations.

[Printout Mode]
In the printout mode, the image forming apparatus A sequentially forms images of a series of documents, for example, from the 1st page to the n-th page, and sequentially discharges them from the main body paper exit 4 . When the entrance sensor S1 of the sheet processing apparatus B detects that the leading edge of the sheet carried out from the image forming apparatus A has reached the carry-in port 23, the buffer guide 28 is moved upward as indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3, and the sheet is sent to the sheet carry-in path P1 by moving the path switching piece 27 to the lower position indicated by the solid line in FIG. The sheet is guided to the discharge roller 26 along the sheet carry-in path P1. When the trailing edge of the sheet is detected by the sheet ejection sensor S2 provided near the ejection port 24, the leading edge of the sheet moves to the position of the driven roller 32 of the processing tray 30 (that is, the position of the forward/reverse roller 31 at the operating position). After the expected arrival time has passed, the normal/reverse roller 31 moves from the upper standby position (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) to the operating position (indicated by a solid line in FIG. 3) in contact with the sheet on the processing tray 30. 3), and the forward/reverse roller 31 is rotated clockwise in FIG. As a result, the sheet entering the processing tray 30 is carried out toward the first paper discharge tray 21 and stored on the first paper discharge tray 21 . Similarly, subsequent sheets are sequentially carried out toward the first paper discharge tray 21 and stacked and stored on the first paper discharge tray 21 .

As described above, in the printout mode, the sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus A passes through the sheet carrying-in path P1 of the sheet processing apparatus B, is received in the first discharge tray 21, and is sequentially stacked upward. The Rukoto. In the printout mode, the sheet is not guided to the first switchback transport path SP1 and the second switchback transport path SP2.

[Binding mode]
In the binding finishing mode, the sheet processing apparatus B aligns the sheets delivered from the image forming apparatus A into a bundle, and then binds and finishes the sheets. More specifically, the image forming apparatus A sequentially forms images of a series of documents from the first page to the n-th page, and sequentially discharges them from the main body paper exit 4 in the same manner as in the printout mode. When the entrance sensor S1 of the sheet processing apparatus B detects that the leading edge of the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus A in the traveling direction has reached the carry-in opening 23, the buffer guide 28 is shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3 and the path switching piece 27 is moved to the lower position indicated by the solid line in FIG. Then, the sheet is guided to the discharge roller 26 along the sheet carry-in path P1. Further, when it is detected that the front end of the sheet in the traveling direction has reached the carry-in port 23, the side alignment plate 37 is moved to the sheet receiving position sufficiently distant from the center reference position so as not to hinder the carry-in of the sheet to the processing tray 30. is moved, and the forward/reverse roller 31 is moved to the standby position (the state indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3).

Next, when the discharge sensor S2 provided near the discharge port 24 detects that the trailing edge of the sheet in the traveling direction has passed the ejection roller 26, the post-processing control unit 62 detects the trailing edge of the sheet in the traveling direction. reaches the position of the driven roller 32 of the processing tray 30 (that is, the position of the forward/reverse roller 31 at the operating position), the forward/reverse roller 31 is brought into contact with the sheet on the processing tray 30 from the upper standby position. 3), the forward/reverse roller 31 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3, the forward/reverse roller 31 is rotated by a predetermined amount counterclockwise in FIG. At this time, the raking rotation guard 33 is also rotated counterclockwise in FIG. The sheet thus discharged from the discharge port 24 is switchback-conveyed onto the processing tray 30 along the first switchback conveyance path SP1.

When the conveying of the sheet to the processing tray 30 stops due to the contact of the sheet with the regulating member 34, the post-processing control unit 62 raises the reversible roller 31 to the standby position and stops it, and moves the sheet from the receiving position to the widthwise direction. The side alignment plates 37 are moved toward the center reference so as to sandwich from both sides of the direction. The side aligning plates 37 have their regulating surfaces brought into contact with both sides in the width direction of the sheet (that is, two sides facing the width direction), and the distance between the regulating surfaces coincides with the width of the sheet. be moved to a position. As a result, each sheet is aligned so that its center in the width direction coincides with the center reference of the processing tray 30 . A similar operation is repeated until a predetermined number of sheets to be bound as one sheet bundle are aligned and accumulated on the processing tray 30 .

When a predetermined number of sheets are aligned and stacked on the processing tray 30, the post-processing control unit 62 drives the side alignment plate 37 and the regulating member 34 to move the stacked sheet bundle to the binding processing position. move. When the sheet bundle is positioned at the binding processing position, the post-processing control unit 62 transmits a command signal to drive the binding device 35 to execute the binding processing. When the binding process is completed, the post-processing control unit 62 drives the reversible roller 31 and the regulating member 34 to discharge the bound sheet bundle from the processing tray 30 to the first paper discharge tray 21 .

[Sheet bundle folding finishing mode]
In the sheet bundle folding finishing mode, the sheet processing apparatus B aligns the sheets carried out from the image forming apparatus A into a bundle and then finishes them into a booklet. It is also possible to insert an insertion sheet that is smaller in size than other sheets. More specifically, the image forming apparatus A sequentially forms images of a series of documents from the first page to the n-th page, and sequentially discharges them from the main body paper exit 4 in the same manner as in the printout mode. When the entrance sensor S1 of the sheet processing apparatus B detects that the leading edge of the sheet carried out from the image forming apparatus A has reached the carry-in port 23, the buffer guide 28 is moved upward as indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3, the sheet is sent to the sheet conveying path P1, and the carry-in roller 25 and the sheet discharge roller 26 are driven to rotate, The sheet is guided to the discharge roller 26 along the sheet carry-in path P1. Next, the post-processing control unit 62 ejects the sheet at the timing when the trailing edge of the sheet in the traveling direction passes the path switching piece 27 based on the signal generated when the entrance sensor S1 detects the trailing edge of the sheet in the traveling direction. After stopping the rotation of the paper roller 26 and simultaneously turning the path switching piece 27 upward from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. As a result, the sheet entering the sheet carry-in path P1 is reversed in the conveying direction, guided to the second switchback conveying path SP2 by the path switching piece 27, and guided to the stacking guide 38 of the sheet folding device C. FIG.

Similarly, subsequent sheets are aligned on the stacking guide 38 via the second switchback transport path SP2. When the post-processing control unit 52 receives the job end signal, it positions the sheets at the binding position X, operates the saddle stitching unit 39, and staples a plurality of locations (for example, two locations) in the center of the sheet bundle. After that, the center of the sheet is positioned at the folding position Y, and the center folding unit 40 performs center folding, and control is performed so that the sheet bundle folded into a booklet is discharged to the second paper discharge tray 22 .

Here, with reference to FIGS. 10 to 15, the control of the sheet stacking operation and center-folding operation in the sheet folding device C when inserting sheets is selected in the sheet bundle folding finishing mode will be described in detail.

In the image forming system, when the presence of the insertion sheet is selected in the sheet bundle folding finishing mode, after the short size sheet as the insertion sheet is stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a of the stacking guide 38, the large size sheet is loaded onto the sheet stacking tray 38a. It is laid out on top of the short-size sheets stacked above. On the sheet stacking tray 38a, the lower end regulating member 47 can be positioned at the standby position at the bottom of the sheet stacking tray 38a, the large size sheet receiving position above the standby position, and the large size sheet receiving position. The upper end pressing member 48 can be positioned at a pressing position contacting the upper end of the short size sheet and at a retracted position located above the pressing position, and the second upper end pressing member 49 can be positioned above the first upper end pressing member 48. , and can be positioned at a presser position where it abuts on the upper end of the large-sized sheet, and a retracted position located above the presser position. Also, the side aligning member 50 has a sheet receiving position that is farther from each other than the width of the sheet to be carried in and a regulating surface in the width direction of the large size sheet so as not to hinder the carrying of the sheet into the sheet stacking tray 38a. large size sheet alignment position for aligning the width direction position of the large size sheet so that the center of the large size sheet coincides with the center reference of the sheet stacking tray 38a by contacting the side edge (in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction); The width direction of the small size sheet is adjusted so that the center of the small size sheet coincides with the center reference of the sheet stacking tray 38a by bringing the regulation surface into contact with the side edge of the small size sheet in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the conveying direction). It is adapted to be positioned in a small size sheet registration position for registration.

When the presence of an insert sheet is selected in step St1, the post-processing control unit 62 shifts from the lowermost waiting position (see FIG. 10A) of the sheet stacking tray 38a to the small size sheet receiving position (see FIG. 10B). ) (step St2). Also, based on the sheet size information transmitted from the body control section 61 to the post-processing control section 62, the first upper end pressing member 48 is moved to the retracted position, and the side alignment member 50 is moved to the sheet receiving position. be. When the lower end regulating member 47 is moved to the small size sheet receiving position, as shown in FIG. , the small size sheet is discharged by the discharge roller 41 onto the sheet stacking tray 38a (step St3).

The ejected small size sheet is conveyed along the mounting surface 38d of the sheet stacking tray 38a for the expected time to reach the lower end regulating member 47 of the small size sheet receiving position, and the lower end of the small size sheet reaches the lower end regulating member 47. When it reaches (step St4), the post-processing control section 62 moves the first upper end pressing member 48 along the mounting surface 48d from the retracted position to the pressing position, as shown in FIG. 10(c). , the contact surface 48a of the first upper end pressing member 48 is brought into contact with the upper end of the small size sheet (step St5). As a result, the small size sheet is pressed against the lower end regulating member 47, and the position of the sheet on the placement surface 38d in the conveying direction (that is, in the vertical direction) is aligned. At the same time, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the small size sheet alignment position where the separation distance of the regulating surface matches the width dimension of the small size sheet, and the regulating surface of the side aligning member 50 is aligned with the side edge in the width direction of the small size sheet. abut on. As a result, the small size sheet is aligned so that its center in the width direction coincides with the center reference of the sheet stacking tray 38a.

In step St6, when there is a succeeding small size sheet, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the sheet receiving position so as not to interfere with sheet carry-in. The succeeding small size sheet is discharged to the tray 38a by the discharge roller 41 (step St7). At this time, the first upper end pressing member 48 is arranged at the pressing position, and the contact surface 48a is brought into contact with the upper end of the small size sheet placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a. The state in which the upper end of the placed small size sheet is covered with the cover portion 48b is maintained.

As shown in FIG. 10(d), when the sheet is conveyed for the expected time for the lower end (leading edge in the conveying direction) of the succeeding small size sheet to pass the first upper end pressing member 48 in step St8, As shown in FIG. 10(e), the post-processing control unit 62 moves the first upper end pressing member 48 from the pressing position to the retracted position in step St9, and moves the lower end of the succeeding small size sheet in step St10. reaches the lower end regulating member 47, the first upper end pressing member 48 is moved to the pressing position again (step St11). At the same time, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the small size sheet alignment position where the separation distance of the regulating surface matches the width dimension of the small size sheet, and the regulating surface of the side aligning member 50 is aligned with the side edge in the width direction of the small size sheet. abut on. Such operations from step St7 to step St11 are repeated until there are no subsequent small size sheets.

When the lower end of the succeeding small size sheet reaches the position of the upper end of the small size sheet placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a, the contact surface 48a of the first upper end pressing member 48 is placed on the small size sheet. Since the cover portion 48b covers the upper ends of the small size sheets in contact with the upper ends of the small size sheets, the lower ends of the subsequent small size sheets move along the inclined surface 48c and are placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a. It is possible to pass over the top edge of a small size sheet. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lower end of the succeeding small size sheet from interfering with the upper end of the small size sheet placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a. It is possible to prevent paper jams and changes in the order of sheets due to interference between the upper end and the lower end of the succeeding small size sheet. After the lower end of the subsequent small size sheet reaches the lower end regulating member 47, the first upper end pressing member 48 is moved to the retracted position and then to the pressing position again, and the side alignment member 50 is moved to the sheet receiving position. From the position to the small size sheet aligning position, the small size sheets stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a are aligned in the conveying direction and the width direction.

When there are no more small size sheets to follow, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the sheet receiving position so as not to interfere with sheet loading, and the second switch is activated as shown in FIG. 11(f). The large size sheet is discharged from the discharge port 42 to the sheet stacking tray 38a of the stacking guide 38 by the discharge roller 41 through the back conveying path SP2 (step St12). At this time, the first upper end pressing member 48 is arranged at the pressing position, and the contact surface 48a is brought into contact with the upper end of the small size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a so that the small size sheet is placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a. The state in which the upper end of the small size sheet is covered with the cover portion 48b is maintained. Further, based on the sheet size information transmitted from the body control section 61 to the post-processing control section 62, the second upper end pressing member 49 is moved to the retracted position, and the side alignment member 50 is moved to the sheet receiving position. .

When the discharged large size sheet is conveyed for the expected time to reach the lower end regulating member 47 at the small size receiving position (step St13), the post-processing control section 62 performs the following operations as shown in FIG. 11(g). , while continuing to discharge the large size sheet from the discharge port 42 by the discharge roller 41, the lower end regulating member 47 and the first upper end pressing member 48 are stacked until the lower end regulating member 47 reaches the large size sheet receiving position. The tray 38a is lowered along the mounting surface 38d (step S14) so that the large size sheet can completely pass through the discharge port 42 (step St15). When the lower end regulating member 47 reaches the large size sheet receiving position, the post-processing control section 62 retracts the second upper end pressing member 49 along the loading surface 48d as shown in FIG. 11(h). position to the pressing position, and the contact surface 49a of the second upper end pressing member 49 is brought into contact with the upper end of the large size sheet (step St16). As a result, the large size sheet is pressed against the lower end regulating member 47, and the position of the sheet in the conveying direction (that is, the vertical direction) on the placement surface 38d is aligned. At the same time, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the large size sheet aligning position where the separation distance of the regulating surface matches the width dimension of the large size sheet, and the regulating surface of the side aligning member 50 is aligned with the side edge in the width direction of the large size sheet. abut on. As a result, the large size sheet is aligned so that its center in the width direction coincides with the center reference of the sheet stacking tray 38a.

The first upper end pressing member 48 keeps the upper end of the small size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a until the lower end of the large size sheet discharged from the discharge port 42 reaches the lower end regulating member 47 of the small size sheet receiving position. , and the upper end of the small size sheet placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a is covered with the cover portion 48b. When the lower end reaches the upper end position of the small size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a, the small size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a moves along the inclined surface 48c of the first upper end presser 48. It is possible to pass over the top edge of the sheet. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lower ends of the large size sheets from interfering with the upper ends of the small size sheets stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a. It is possible to prevent paper jams and changes in the order of sheets due to interference with the lower edge.

In step St17, when there is a subsequent large size sheet, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the sheet receiving position so as not to interfere with sheet carry-in. The subsequent large size sheet is discharged to 38a by the discharge roller 41 (step St18). At this time, the second upper end pressing member 49 is arranged at the pressing position, and the contact surface 49a is brought into contact with the upper end of the large size sheet placed on the sheet stacking tray 38a. The state in which the upper ends of the loaded large size sheets are covered with the cover portion 49b is maintained.

In step St19, when the subsequent large size sheet is conveyed for the expected time for the lower end (leading end in the conveying direction) to reach the lower end regulating member 47, the post-processing control device 62 presses the second upper end pressing member 49. position to the retracted position (step St20), and then the second upper end pressing member 49 is moved again from the retracted position to the pressing position (step St21). At the same time, the side aligning member 50 is moved to the large size sheet aligning position where the separation distance of the regulating surface matches the width dimension of the large size sheet, and the regulating surface of the side aligning member 50 is aligned with the side edge in the width direction of the large size sheet. abut on. Such operations from step St18 to step St21 are repeated until there are no subsequent large size sheets.

When the lower end of the subsequent large size sheet reaches the position of the upper end of the large size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a, the abutment surface 49a of the second upper end pressing member 49 is pressed against the loaded large size sheet. Since the cover portion 49b covers the upper end of the large size sheet in contact with the upper end, the lower end of the following large size sheet moves along the inclined surface 49c, and the large size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a moves along the inclined surface 49c. It is possible to pass over the top edge of the sheet. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lower edge of the subsequent large-size sheet from interfering with the upper edge of the large-size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a. It is possible to prevent paper jams and changes in the order of sheets due to interference with the lower end of the following large size sheet. After the lower end of the subsequent large size sheet reaches the lower end regulating member 47, the second upper end pressing member 49 moves to the retracted position, so that the upper end of the subsequent large size sheet is stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a. After that, the second upper end pressing member 49 is moved to the pressing position and the side aligning member 50 is moved to the large size sheet aligning position. The large size sheets stacked on the 1 are collated by aligning their positions in the conveying direction and the width direction.

When there is no subsequent large size sheet, the post-processing control section 62 moves the first upper end pressing member 48 and the second upper end pressing member 49 from the pressing position to the retracted position, as shown in FIG. 11(i). (step St22). When saddle stitching is performed, the center of the large size sheets stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a in the conveying direction is moved to the stitching position X by moving the lower end regulating member 47, and the sheets are saddle stitched by the saddle stitching unit 39. apply. At this time, if the switchback path 38b is provided, the upper end of the large size sheet can escape to the switchback path 38b. However, if the upper end of the large size sheet is positioned below the discharge port 42 when the large size sheet is moved to the binding position X, the switchback path 38b may not be provided. When the center folding process is performed after the saddle stitching process or without performing the saddle stitching process, the center of the large size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a in the transport direction is set to the folding position Y by moving the lower end regulating member 47. , and the large size sheet is center-folded by the center-folding unit 40.例文帳に追加

Specifically, during the center-folding process, the post-processing control unit 62 first moves the projecting plate 44 from the standby position toward the operating position as shown in FIG. The large size sheet stacked thereon is pushed between the pair of folding rollers 43 by the tip of the projecting plate 44 (step St23). At this time, since the first upper end pressing member 48 has been moved to the retracted position, the movement of the projecting plate 44 is not hindered. Next, the post-processing control unit 62 temporarily stops the movement of the projecting plate 44 after the expected time for the folding position of the large size sheet to reach between the pair of folding rollers 43 (step St24). ), the lower end regulating member 47 is lifted along the mounting surface 38d of the sheet stacking tray 38a (step St25). As a result, when the top edge of the small size sheet is at or below the crease position (center in the conveying direction) of the large size sheet (i.e., the length of the small size sheet in the conveying direction is half or less than the length of the large size sheet in the conveying direction). ), the lower edge regulating member 47 rises to press the upper edge of the small size sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a against the guide surface of the projecting plate 44, and the fold position of the large size sheet follows along the guide surface. (step St26). Thereafter, in step St27, the projecting plate 44 is restarted to move between the pair of folding rollers 43, and in step St28, the upper folding roller 43a is moved clockwise in FIG. Rotation of the pair of folding rollers 43 is started so that 43b is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. (step St29). As a result, the large size sheet is sandwiched between the pair of folding rollers 43 while being folded at the crease position. A large size sheet is center-folded at 43 nip positions. The folded sheet passes through the nip position of the pair of folding rollers 43, is handed over to the paper discharge roller pair 45, and is discharged to the second paper discharge tray 22 (step St30). Further, the lower end regulating member 47 is returned to the standby position (step St31).

As described above, in the sheet processing apparatus B according to the present invention, even when sheets of different sizes are stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a and a small size sheet is inserted between the large size sheets to perform the center folding process, the first The lower end of the discharged sheet does not interfere with the upper end of the sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a without moving the upper end of the sheet stacked on the sheet stacking tray 38a above the discharge port 42. can be prevented. Further, since the sheet is discharged downward toward the sheet stacking tray 38 provided below the discharge port 42, it is possible to discharge the sheet upward from the discharge port 42 as in the case of discharging the sheet upward from the discharge port 42. There is no need to secure a space for escaping the maximum size sheet discharged from the outlet 42, and the apparatus can be made compact.

Although the sheet processing apparatus and the image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention have been described above with reference to the illustrated embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, a belt drive mechanism is employed as a drive mechanism for the lower end regulating member, the first upper end pressing member, and the second upper end pressing member. It is also possible to adopt another drive mechanism as long as it can reciprocate the second upper end pressing member.

A Image forming apparatus B Sheet processing apparatus C Sheet folding device 38 Stacking guide 38a Sheet stacking tray 38d Mounting surface 39 Saddle stitching unit 40 Center folding unit 42 Exit port 43 Pair of folding rollers 44 Projecting plate 44a Guide surface 47 Lower end regulating member 47a Regulation Surface 48 First upper end pressing member 48a Contact surface 48b Cover portion 48c Inclined surface 49 Second upper end pressing member 49a Contact surface 49b Cover portion 49c Inclined surface 60 Control device 61 Main control unit 62 Post-processing control unit

In view of the above object, the present invention provides a discharge port for discharging a first size sheet conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction and a second size sheet longer than the first size sheet in the conveying direction; one or more of each of the first size sheets and the second size sheets discharged from the discharge opening are stacked to include the first size sheets and the second size sheets. a stacking tray on which a sheet bundle is formed ; a first regulating position for regulating the position of the first size sheet by abutting against a vertical lower end of the first size sheet discharged onto the stacking tray; a regulating member provided vertically below the position and movable to a second regulating position for regulating the position of the second size sheet by coming into contact with the vertical lower end of the second size sheet discharged onto the stacking tray; and the vertical upper end of the first size sheet, which is provided to move up and down along the stacking tray and whose position is restricted by the restricting member at the first restricting position, and then to the stacking tray. By guiding the second size sheet above the first size sheet while avoiding collision with the bottom end of the discharged second size sheet in the vertical direction, the first size sheet as viewed in the thickness direction of the sheet avoiding means for performing a collision avoidance process to partially overlap the second size sheet with the second size sheet; While maintaining a state in which the two sheets partially overlap each other, the avoiding means is lowered, and the regulating member is moved from the first regulating position to the second regulating position to separate the first size sheet and the second size sheet. Control means for controlling the avoiding means and the regulating member to regulate the position of the sheet bundle , and the second position of the sheet bundle whose position is regulated at the second regulating position by the regulating member. A sheet folding device comprising a pair of folding rollers for folding the second size sheet so as to sandwich the first size sheet while rotating in contact with the size sheet.

Claims (4)

a sheet stacking tray for stacking sheets;
a conveying means for conveying a sheet from a predetermined conveying path to the sheet stacking tray;
a lower edge regulating member that abuts on the leading edge of the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking tray;
lower end regulating member moving means for moving the lower end regulating member along the predetermined transport path;
folding means for folding the sheet;
a control means for controlling the conveying means, the lower end regulating member, the lower end regulating member moving means, and the folding means;
The control means is
moving the lower end regulating member to a first position when the first sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path by the conveying means;
When the conveying means conveys a second sheet having a length in the conveying direction longer than that of the first sheet from the predetermined conveying path, the bottom end regulating member is moved to a position downstream of the first position in the conveying direction. move it to position 2,
The folding unit folds the second sheet after the conveying unit has finished conveying the first sheet and the second sheet to the sheet stacking tray.
A sheet processing apparatus characterized by: an upper edge pressing member that presses an upper edge of the conveyed sheet when the sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path to the sheet stacking tray by the conveying means;
When the first sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path by the conveying means, the upper edge pressing member is moved to the first position, and the second sheet is conveyed from the predetermined conveying path by the conveying means. upper-end pressing member moving means for moving the upper-end pressing member to a second pressing position upstream in the conveying direction from the first pressing position,
2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Equipped with binding means for binding the sheets,
The control means forms a folded end portion by folding substantially the center between the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion of the second sheet in the transport direction by the folding means,
The binding means binds an end portion of the second sheet folded by the folding means and enclosing the first sheet, opposite to the folded end portion.
3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Equipped with binding means for binding the sheets,
The control means is
binding substantially the center between the upstream end in the conveying direction and the downstream end in the conveying direction of the sheet by the binding means;
folding the sheet bound by the binding means at substantially the center between the upstream end in the conveying direction and the downstream end in the conveying direction by the folding means;
3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

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